Title and Platform: Little ball of fur, purr purr purr (SquidgeWorld) (tumblr)
Rating: Gen
Fandoms: Stargate Atlantis
Characters: Rodney McKay, Rodney McKay's Cat
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Grief/Mourning
Summary:
"He had a week before they all left. It wasn't a lot of time, not really."

Waking up was familiar and comfortable. This in itself was not upsetting, but the qualities of this familiarity and state of comfort had him frowning before he even opened his eyes. Shifting where he lay, the lumpiness underneath him was immediately apparent.

This isn’t my bed, He thought muzzily, turning on his side. It led to him immediately falling off his couch, which informed him rather succinctly where he was. A quiet meow by his head was additional information, and he grimaced at the radiating pain in his back, and shoulder, and, ow, knee.

A rough tongue licking a curl at the edge of his hair made him sigh, and he reached the less-hurting arm out to give his cat a gentle pat. The carpet smelled a little musty, but it didn’t need a vacuum yet, so he continued to lay there and ponder when his landlord would replace the underfloor and whether he still ought to do a direct deposit for his rent.

Flexing his hand in Tabby’s fur, he thought about all the paperwork he had signed before flying back home to his apartment. It didn’t have that persistent chill of the Antarctic site, or the somewhat claustrophobic dampness of the SGC – in point of fact, the sunshine peeking through the window blinds was pleasantly warm, even if it did highlight his need to dust the feet of his coffee table.

Going to Atlantis… now there was a trip. He could feel his heart skip a beat in instinctive excitement, giving Tabby a long pet when she meowed in concern at him. Feeling cat breath on his face, he scooped her up, managing to get himself upright against the couch as he cuddled her against his chest. She immediately pressed herself against his shoulder, and while it was the one that caught the floor, he just enjoyed the sound of purring reverberating against him.

“Morning,” He said softly, feeling his eyes slide shut from jet lag and the precious sight of Tabby relaxing. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he murmured, “Or at least I think it’s morning. How long have I been sleeping, anyway?”

The purring got louder, and he let himself have some uninterrupted time to pet his cat. His knee was still aching in protest at the way he crossed his legs, and he scooted a little further down, letting the edge of the couch cradle his neck as he stretched his legs out under the coffee table. Tabby remained a limp noodle on him, only noticeably awake by the comforting feel of her purring.

“What am I going to do, huh?” He said to himself, blinking tiredly at the water stain that marked the corner between wall and ceiling. Somehow he had forgotten about that, because the absolute mess it made of his kitchen had – at least at the time – been unforgettable. Good thing those neighbors moved out already. Tabby flexed her paws against him, claws catching in his shirt as she idly kneaded against him, “I’m gonna have to leave you here. They won’t let me take you with me.”

And she was a brilliant cat, blissfully unaware of anything he was saying. It was for the best, probably. If they even successfully connected the wormhole to Atlantis, there was no saying how stable anything would be when they got there. Tabby was young, and scarcely two years of owning her – a good year of that while he was in Antarctica, no less – wouldn’t be any amount of time compared to how long she would live.

Besides, the sound of the gate dialing would probably scare her. He pressed another kiss to the top of her head, smiling against her fur when her ears twitched at the gesture. It didn’t stop him from doing it again, a familiar game they played whenever he was able to be home. Tabby stretched against him, and he was shocked once more at how big she’d gotten, no longer the cute little fuzzball he had seen when he’d been reassigned. He’d neatly missed watching her grow, and now he’d miss watching her grow old.

Tabby seemed to catch that subsuming wave of grief falling over him, because she twisted around in his grasp, looking up at him with wide eyes and letting him pet the soft fur of her stomach. Her paws patted at his face, meowing at him again when he clutched her close.

“You be good for the neighbor, okay?” He asked his cat, feeling a little silly but wanting, somehow, to convey these words. It was important. To him, at least. When he had to fly back to Colorado, he wouldn’t have the time to say a proper goodbye. Barely a week of time to settle his affairs, and he really wasn’t looking forward to closing out all of his utilities. Whatever happened with the expedition, he wasn’t going to look back.

He felt another meow against his cheek, where Tabby had pressed her own face against his. Maybe she did understand, or understood something. It had to be enough for him, and he squeezed his eyes shut where nobody could see, taking in a deep breath.

Forcing some cheerfulness into his voice, he stumbled to his feet, careful not to let Tabby drop as he squished her close, “Let’s go get something to eat, how does that sound?”

Notes:

Title from the following meme/poem:

"Soft kitty, warm kitty
little ball of fur,
happy kitty, sleepy kitty
purr, purr, purr"

I don't know the author of that, so if anyone does, please let me know! I'd like to properly attribute it.

I see a lot of ideas about what Rodney might name his cat, and this is my hat thrown into the ring on the subject. Why Tabby? Well, because it's a tabby cat. A background headcanon here is that Rodney got the cat while he was working in Russia - perhaps it was a stray, or a gift - but I don't know for sure the timeline of all of Rodney's SGC work, and the cat they show us in the pilot episode looks rather young at maybe a year or two old. I really doubt that cat was in Antarctica, either, given all the myriad restrictions already in place, just as there probably wasn't one in the SGC (otherwise Sam's cat Schroedinger might have been a glorified mascot for the base).

Rising did a good job illustrating a lot of our main cast in the glimpses we got of them before entering Atlantis, and I feel like Rodney probably really adored his cat and was probably rather upset about having to effectively give it up to his neighbor. As far as I can tell, he never got it back, either. Also, like... that was an enormously cheap and shitty apartment Rodney was living in before joining the expedition. In retrospect, Rodney's complaints to Daniel in First Contact and Lost Tribe about pay differences make more sense.